Blogs from Guilin, Guangxi, China, Asia - page 38

The minivan hurtled along a dirt road, it's occupants cramped and eager to escape into the terraced hills above the narrow river gorge. A huge landslide marked the terminal point for vehicular travel and an opportunity to stretch the legs a little... Like almost every river in China, the Herping has not escaped from the enthusiastic reach of Chinese engineers. A weir across the flow provided an interesting slide for my hot, sweating body to relieve itself. The track passed by a number of powerful waterfalls chundering down the valley walls along the way. Soon, under Tommy's guidance, we found ourselves scrambling up a forested slope towards the rice paddy fields above. Somewhere above, logs could be heard tumbling down the hill from the axe of workers. A machine could be heard clearing the hillside too; ... read more

Two tandems ply along a rice paddy path, splashing mud and water, and carving a line in the saturated “path” beneath them. Bang! The front wheel hits and the bike bounces through a rocky patch before plunging into knee deep water across the trail… Heavy rain over the last week has seen rivers rise and flow through rice paddies and becoming impassable at the normal crossing points. Tomorrow a large group will be arriving to climb at Twin Gate climbing area, one of the crags left isolated by the flooding. Today, four keen souls have been sent out on a scouting expedition to find a way of getting the 12 corporate CEO’s across the swollen Dragon River… For over an hour, the two bikes raced head to head along the river, jostling and competing as climbers ... read more

Hi guys.. This has become much more easier to update with fast internet here in China. Had the most fantastic day today in this beautiful town called Yangshou. Its a backpackers favourite and yes, it is quite touristy but it is gorgeous. We went for a bike ride this morning for 4 hours through the countryside, met some locals and saw ride paddies, peanut trees and then went to this place called Moon hill which was basically a bit mountain climb which nearly killed me.. but it was worth the climb in the end as the view was amazing over the countryside when we got to the top... followed of course by about 5 chinese ladies trying to sell us water, they do this climb twice a day just to sell a bottle of water for ... read more

Got a plane from Xian and flew to Guilin, before being transferred by bus to Youngshou. We met up with another Gecko's tour, who had seen a little more of the north of the country and Shanghai. Were in Younshou from 3 April, until the 5th. As you can see Youngshou is beautiful and rural. Exactly as you would imagine China to be. The rock formations were fantastic. If I were to return to China I would definetly go here again. Popular to tourists for its rock climbing.... read more